


an open book

by 70sBabe



Category: Gilmore Girls
Genre: F/M, Literati, actual communication, also luke and jess love each other so much, because they all deserve some simple goodness, i gave this a really simple solution, like imagine if anyone in this show talked about their feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-12-25 13:54:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18262658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/70sBabe/pseuds/70sBabe
Summary: set at the end of 3x20basically I just wrote a little au where Jess and Luke actually communicate with each other because it kills me how so many of their problems would be solved just by sitting down and listening to each other





	an open book

You know when shit starts hitting the fan and you think, well, it can’t get any worse, right? But then it does get worse? Yeah, that’s how Jess’ life was going right now.

It wasn’t enough that he was flunking out of school and arguing with his girlfriend over stupid stuff, stuff that didn’t matter at all. No, he had to go and get in a fight with said girlfriend’s Cro-Magnon ex at a party and then run before the cops got there. Oh yeah, and his deadbeat dad finally decided to introduce himself. Yeah, things were going just swimmingly in Jess Mariano’s life.

He shouldn’t have picked the fight with Luke, he knew that now. But hindsight is 20/20 and when you’re blind with rage, everything seems like a good idea.

The fight had been about Jimmy (the aforementioned deadbeat dad), but quickly turned towards Jess and his own deadbeat tendencies. And as Luke started in on how smart Jess was, how he should be acing it all, how there was no reason for him to be barely graduating, Jess delivered the coup de grâce.

“I’m not.”

“You’re not what?” Luke snapped, not even processing what Jess was trying to tell him.

“I’m not graduating!”

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are!”

“No, I’m not!”

 _Glad to see we’re both being mature adults about this_ , Jess snorted somewhere in the back of his mind, but now wasn’t the time for wisecracks.

“Yes, you are, because we had an agreement!” Luke was stabbing his finger in Jess’ direction, his face getting redder and redder. “If you were gonna live here, you were gonna go to school and graduate!”

“Well, I didn’t and I’m not,” Jess started to push past Luke. He needed to get out of here, he needed to pretend none of this was happening, he needed to breathe.

“What is wrong with you?” Luke’s tone was wounded. “What, did you do this just to spite me?”

Something in Jess cracked, and not in that “Hulk-out-lose-control-say-things-you-don’t-mean” way. He cracked more in the “cool-guy-facade-dissolving-like-Alka-Seltzer-in-water” way. He hadn’t let the mask drop since he was a little kid and it was scary to finally show his hand.

“No!” He didn’t want to raise his voice, but that was the only way he could hear himself over Luke. “Jesus, no, it wasn’t about you.”

“Then what was it?” Luke had quieted down, but was still breathing heavily, like he was gearing up for the knock-out round of their championship showdown. “Why don’t you care?”

“I….” Jess trailed off, looking anywhere but Luke’s face. “I don’t know-”

“You’re gonna have to do a little better than that,” Luke interrupted.

“I ruin things, okay?” Jess snapped. “I mess things up, it’s what I do, and….and I don’t know why. I see things get good and then it’s like I have to….like I have to-”

“Ruin things.” Luke finished for him.

“Quit making fun of me.”

“I’m not making fun of you!”

“Yeah, well, you don’t buy it, I can tell,” Jess sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“Jess, I just want what’s best for you,” Luke awkwardly shoved his hands in his pockets. “And working at Walmart ‘til you kick the bucket isn’t what’s best for you.”

“How do you know?”

“I just do.”

“Geez,” he snorted. “For someone who’s not a dad, you’ve really got the lingo down.”

“You’ve given me a lot of practice,” Luke rolled his eyes.

Jess sat down heavily at the kitchen table, Luke quickly following suit. They were silent, Jess staring down at the table while Luke studied him.

“I never meant to-” Jess stopped abruptly, unsure of how to proceed.

“Yeah, I know,” Luke nodded.

“So, what are you gonna do?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I didn’t keep up my side of the bargain,” Jess pressed his lips together, trying to keep his cool. “You gonna ship me off to the next Danes relative that’ll have me?”

“None of them will have you,” Luke grumbled. “They all know what a hellion you are.”

“Luke, seriously-”

“I’m not kicking you out, if that’s what you’re asking.” Jess finally met his uncle’s eyes, his own widening in disbelief.

“But I’m not graduating.”

“I know.”

“I let you down.”

“I’ve been let down before.”

“I spend way too much time in the bathroom.”

“Jess.”

“Luke.”

Jess couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Luke wasn’t kicking him out. He wasn’t even yelling. What was going on?

“If you really want to stay here, though, we need a plan,” Luke’s tone was serious. “And here’s my suggestion.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“Look, traditional schooling has never been your thing, I get it,” Luke rubbed his eyes tiredly. “I was the same way. But I will not let you drop out of high school, I just won’t do it.”

“So?” Jess wasn’t sure where Luke was going with this.

“So, you’re gonna take the GED test. We’ll drive into Hartford tomorrow, get some workbooks or something. And in a couple weeks or months or whatever, you’ll take the test. No more school.”

Jess was dumbstruck. Luke’s plan was so simple. How could it have been that simple this whole time? Why had they spent so many hours fighting over this when this perfect solution was right in front of them the whole time?

“Luke,” Jess started slowly. “Are you seriously telling me that this was an option the entire time I’ve been here?”

“I always like to have a contingency plan,” he chuckled.

“And yet you still made me play Saved By The Bell with Stars Hollow’s finest?”

“I thought the social aspect would be good for you.”

“Say that again and keep a straight face this time.”

Jess couldn’t keep the smile off his face. He could stay. He wouldn’t be letting Luke down. He could still be someone, still do something real. And if this thing, this huge, monumental thing that had been weighing on him for months could be fixed with one calm, level-headed conversation, then how could any of the rest of it be much harder?

“Well, now that we’ve got all that over with,” Luke sighed, getting up slowly from the table. “I think I’m gonna hit the sack.”

“Luke?”

“Yeah?”

Jess swallowed hard, trying to summon the words.

“Thanks….for everything. I’ve never really had anyone look out for me before and you do and it really….it means a lot.”

Luke smiled at him as he loosened his tie. “You’re welcome, Jess.”

Both of them let the words hang in the air for a second, the unspoken “I love you” echoing in both their ears. Jess loved Luke, loved him like he’d never known he could love a parental figure. And he didn’t want to let him down, especially not now, now that Luke had met him in the middle and found a way through for the both of them.

“Hey,” Jess finally said. “I’m gonna go out for a bit, take a walk or something….if that’s okay?”

“Are you actually asking me for permission?”

“Turning over a new leaf.”

“More like a whole new tree.”

“Can I go or not?”

“Yeah, go on,” Luke grinned. “Be back before 11:00.”

“Okay, Taylor.”

“Hey, you take that back!”

Jess laughed, fully laughed, as he ducked out the door and down the stairs. God, he hadn’t laughed like that in….well, it had been too long. He still had a grin on his face as he sauntered down the empty streets to the Gilmore abode.

The lights were still on in the living room and Rory’s bedroom, but Jess didn’t want to knock on the door and chance facing Lorelai. He had been mugged 6 times, but she was the only thing that really put the fear of God in him.

Instead, he crept quietly onto the porch and lightly tapped on Rory’s window. _Please let Rory open the window, please don’t let Lorelai catch me, please, please, plea-_

“Jess?” Jess thanked every god he could think of as Rory’s blue eyes met his.

“Hey,” he said, trying to come off casual. Calm, cool, and collected, that was Jess Mariano.

“Jess, what are you doing here?” Rory looked pissed off and she had every right to be. After the way Jess had acted at that stupid party, she would be well within her rights to give him a swift kick to the jewels and never speak to him again. Jess hoped she wouldn’t do either of those things.

“I need to talk to you.”

“About what?”

“A lot of things. Can you come out?”

Rory pressed her lips together, the anger in her eyes mingling with intrigue.

“Please?” Jess said quietly.

“Okay,” she smiled slightly. “But only because you said please.”

After she slipped on shoes and a jacket and made excuses to her mom (a late-night Doose’s run), they walked silently down the street. Neither one was surprised that they ended up at the bridge. Their bridge.

“So?” Rory finally spoke. “What do you have to say to me?”

“I saw my dad,” Jess blurted. _Why did I lead with that?_

“What?” All traces of anger were gone from her face. “Oh my God, Jess, that’s huge.”

“Yeah, I know,” he shrugged. “And, um….I’m kind of spinning out. Luke and I had a fight-”

“Oh, no.”

“-but we, uh, we talked, and I think things are good now. Maybe better.”

“That’s great,” Rory smiled. “Pretty soon you guys will be as close as me and Mom.”

“Perish the thought,” Jess rolled his eyes. Well, I got the easy part over with.

Rory grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers slowly and methodically. She smiled up at him when she felt his gaze.

“Rory, I need to tell you something else. Something kind of big.”

“Okay?” she sounded wary. “All this communication is sort of freaking me out. It’s not anything bad, right? You’re not dying?”

“No, I’m not dying,” Jess shook his head. “Um, so, you know how I’m not doing too hot in school right now?”

“Yes, I believe that is an established fact.”

“Well, I’m, uh,” he struggled to get the words out. They had tripped off his tongue easily when he told Luke, but now it was like they were stuck. “I’m not graduating.”

“What?”

“I skipped too much school, I flunked too many tests, and uh….I’m not graduating. And I can’t take you to prom.” Jess tacked on as an afterthought. “I know you really wanted to go and I’m sorry and I suck, I suck so much and-”

“Hey, I’m supposed to be the babbler in this relationship,” Rory interjected. Jess couldn’t tell if she was trying to make a joke or not.

“Rory-”

“So, I’m guessing you’re leaving, right?” Her voice was shaking slightly, but she was keeping up an even, almost business-like tone.

“Rory-” he tried again, but she acted like she couldn’t hear him.

“I mean, that was your deal with Luke, right? Pass high school or get the hell out. Where are you gonna go? Back to New York? Or maybe you should try Chicago, I hear great things about Chicago-”

“Rory, listen to me!” Jess grabbed her wrists, making sure she was staring him right in the eyes. “I’m not leaving, okay? I’m staying right here.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Luke and I actually talked about things for once.”

“Okay, I’m gonna need a little more.”

“We stopped yelling at each other,” Jess wasn’t sure how to explain it. “We listened to each other.”

“But school is so important to Luke-”

“He came up with an alternate plan.” Jess couldn’t help but grin at the stupefied look on Rory’s face.

“Don’t leave me in suspense here, Mariano,” she tugged on his arm. “What’s going on?”

“I’m gonna take the GED test,” he said and suddenly everything felt lighter. He could breathe. He hadn’t been able to breathe in awhile.

“The GED test?”

“No more school, but I still get a diploma. Sort of.”

“Jess,” Rory said softly, reaching her hand up to cup his face. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all week.”

“Just this week? I thought I would at least earn best news of the month.”

“The year!”

“The century!”

And then they were giggling like little kids, both of them hanging onto each other so they didn’t fall off the bridge into the pond. And then Jess was kissing Rory and Rory was kissing Jess and everything felt so incredibly close to perfect that Jess thought he might have died and gone to heaven.

“Okay, but don’t go thinking this fixes everything,” Rory said breathlessly as she pulled away from him, his arms still wrapped tightly around her waist. “You still have to make up for how you acted at the party.”

She was teasing, sort of, but Jess felt like he had just been slapped. The party. He had forgotten all about the party and the fight and the dark bedroom and Rory saying “I don’t know what I did!” and he suddenly felt like a grade-A tool.

“Oh, God,” he groaned. “That was me at my worst. I mean, I was scum. Worse than scum. What’s worse than scum?”

“Jess-”

“God, I can’t even believe you haven’t punched me in the face yet. I deserve it, you know.”

“Yeah, you do,” said Rory. “But I’m not going to punch you.”

“You’re not?”

“No, I think Dean hit you hard enough to get my feelings across.”

And then she giggled and Jess knew that everything was, for the time being, fine. Good. Maybe even great.

As he pulled her closer for another kiss, Jess wondered how everything that had been so shitty just a few hours before turn into roses before his very eyes.

“You know,” he said breathlessly, Rory’s forehead resting against his own. “I guess this whole ‘talking’ thing works sometimes.”

“You’re darn right it does,” Rory rolled her eyes, a good-natured smile on her face. “So keep that in mind the next time you start trying to keep secrets.”

“I’m an open book from now on, I swear,” Jess held up one hand, the other over his heart.

“Open books,” Rory’s smile was so wide it was taking up her whole face. “Those are my favorite kind.”

“Glad to hear it,” Jess grabbed her hand and started towing her back towards her house. “Now, come on, I gotta get you back home and be at the diner before 11:00.”

“You have a curfew?”

“Long story.”

“Hey, you’re supposed to be an open book now, remember? Spill.”

Jess had a feeling Rory would be using that line on him for the rest of their lives, but he didn’t mind. Things were fixed. Maybe not permanently, but they were fixed enough to make him feel stable. Secure. Something he had never felt before.

Maybe embracing the whole verbal thing wouldn’t be so bad after all.


End file.
